Almost 3 Yr Old Not Eating

OMG - I didn't notice this post when I posted my question about my 4 yr old! Boy do I feel like a dope! Sorry!

:)
M.

Hi S.: I am having the same problem with my two year daughter. I have been told time and time again by the doctors, mothers my age and older mothers, they will eat when they are hungry. The doctor also said as long I get one good meal in her, she will be fine. Since Lily loves anything when it comes to breakfast, that's her big meal of the day. It will get better, my older daughter is six next week and went through the same thing. She still does not eat that much, but I console myself with the fact that I probably will never have overweight who need to worry about diabites. Good luck.

When my son when through this stage, it was just that, a stage. I now cannot get him to stop eating everything under the sun. Hang in there, as my son's doctor's office said, if it lasts more than three weeks, then there will be a good reason to start testing etc. Until then, just give your child whatever you can get into your 3 yr old.

We are conditioned to make sure our kids are eating all balanced meals a day, although as for an adult, there are times, were we just don't feel like eating. They are distracted with all the new toys, environment and other around, of course they do not want to sit and eat.. it would take from their playtime. Relax.. it will be okay!

Good luck.

My daughter was like that. Very fussy eater, did not eat much, right from Day 1. Was always at the 10th %ile for weight. My hubby and I were on the slender side (at the time!) so her doctor was not concerned. He said he would be concerned if she started losing weight at any point, which never happened.

She is now a perfectly healthy 23 year old. My advice would be don't make a big issue about eating and certainly don't turn it into a power struggle kind of thing. Of course, listen to your doctor, but I don't think 50 %ile is a "magic " number that they have to stay above.

Don't worry about her eating. If she is within her weight chart she is fine. 3 y/os have tiny tummys and dont eat much. They are pretty much done with growth spurts and dont need that much food. If your doctor says shes fine ..she is. Keep nagging her about food and yo will create eating problems that can last her a life time. I'm sure you limit her junk food snacks, but dont limit healthy snacks, even yogurt and ice cream, cut up apples with peanut butter. Leave snacks around where she can help herself and make family meal time fun, by talking to her and having her share her day with daddy. Put a small amount of food on her plate and dont say anything about it. If she eats fine, if not just take her plate away at the end of the meal and dont say a word. And PLEASE PLEASE dont praise her for finishing her food. Thats obesity waiting to happen.

My son is almost 3. He does not eat anything with lumps or chunks. He is also 19 pounds and just under 3 feet tall. He has been to a gastrointerrologist, who found through a swallow study, that he has a problem with acid reflux. He is taking prevacid twice a day and it seems to helping with this problem. Could it be somethjing similar? He is also on pediasure in addition to the stage 2 baby food and smooth ice cream . We also saw a nutritionist, and tried something called Duocal. It didn't seem to help him, but other people have used it in similar situations and have had success with their children.

I hope this helps you. Let me know how things turn out.

A.

If this was going on with my kids, I would take them to a homeopath. Homeopathy tends to be really good at treating odder things like this and also deals with any emotional aspects of eating that may be at work.

Can you do smoothies with milk and frozen fruit and a bit of powdered greens?

I would also make sure that the dairy was of the highest quality. There are cultures where they pretty much lived off of raw or cultured dairy from grassfed, hormone free animals & whole grain sourdough breads- think Heidi- and they thrived. My kids do very well on vanilla flavored goat milk yogurt, I get them organic raw milk from grassfed (NOT grainfed) cows, and give them organic raw milk cheddar (its available in stores aged for 60 days). Even if this kind of dairy were most of her diet, she is essentially getting veggies in that the milk is from grassfed animals and is therefore extremely nutrient dense. Raw would be important here because heat causes the vitamins to begin to denature, and because a lot of homogenized pasteurized milk will probably make her very mucousy. Keep offering her other foods- can you try telling her she can't leave the table until she has ONE spoonful of everything you're serving?

They all go through spurts, try making her some milk shakes with instant breakfast or someother filler like that. it will give her more calories, that seems to be the biggest concern. make sure she takes her vitamins. Some day you will wonder why you ever worried because she will eat you out of house and home. LOL. If she will drink milk, then she should drink shakes or make some vanilla milk, a little bit of vanilla flavoring and some sugar.

I have watched my Granddaughter since she came home from the hospital 3 yrs ago. I went thru this too, and still am. No need to worry about it. You just have to offer her different things, hope you hit the jackpot so to say. Shae still will not eat veggies alone. I finally got her to eat carrots if I buy soups, with the carrots in there. Cook some up, dice them and add it to the soup. Now at least I get her to eat them.
Her Dr, said this is a stage, it is frustrating for us, but not to worry if she is not loosing weight. Hang in there. It will get better.
B.

Hi S.
This is tough. I am so sorry about your dilima.
Now I would like to tell you our story. So write me if you want to hear it.
My advice
Tell the MD
If he isn't interested, tell him again.
Then say if you don't send me to someone who cares I will go elsewhere.
Then tell again and again.
It is easier to tell now than at 12.
Keep telling.
Don't assume it must be normal if you don't think it is.
God bless you
I hope to hear from you
K. SAHM married 38 years 4 adults 37,32, and twins 18.

Hi S.,

This was a problem with my son - until he was twelve or thirteen! He was always smaller than all the other kids. Then all of a sudden, he grew! And ate! It was almost overnight. Now he is 22, and sometimes I watch him eat in amazement and can't figure out where he puts it!

My thoughts - some kids are just like this. Listen to your doctor. Be careful not to turn eating/meals into a daily control, or unpleasant, issue with her.

I know this makes your job harder. Try to get more nutritional impact in what she does consume. I recommend Via Viente. Very powerful whole fuit and minerals and tastes like grapejuice! Just 1 oz. is equivalent to 5 servings of fruits/veg! Be careful. Do your research on ALL products out there. Feel free to email me at gotvia.com/fptoz or call me at ###-###-####.

To your family's good health! C.

Personally - I am not thrilled with the food pyramid, I like to make sure every meal I prepare is proportioned, twice the amount of veggies (green ones - not potatoes) to one seribg of protein and one of a starch (this would be potato, bread, etc..)

Try making the food you are eating more appealing - if she likes cheese - put it on broccoli to try and get her to eat it.

I had a cousin that had this same problme - she would only ever eat mac and cheese - she eventually grew out of it but she was sick ALL the time since she was getting very porr nutrition.

Try supplementing with a GOOD children's vitamin. There is a fantastic one called Might-a-mins. It is a poweder that you dissolve in water, sort of tastes like orange soda, it gets absorbed very quickly into their system. It also contains probiotics (healthy bacteria) for their digestive tract.

Here is the link for more info: http://www.marketamerica.com/pgp/index.cfm?action=shoppin...

Hi S.,

My daughter is almost 4, and she still doesn't eat well at all. She had speech therapy to deal with some of her oral sensitivity issues when she was one, but even with that she still never eats good. She is pretty small for her age...just barely 30 pounds (I guess she is in the 10th percentile for weight, 5th for height). But here's the thing...she's not starving, she doesn't get sick, she runs and jumps and plays like any other kid. It is hard for me to understand because I tend to have a problem with eating too much (emotional eater), but she just doesn't use food that way. I do hope that in time she will start to eat more...her hair falls out pretty easy so that is the only concern that I have, and I cannot get her to take a vitamin, but if you can get your daughter to take a vitamin, I don't think you need to worry. Kids won't starve themselves.

Take care.

D.

Children's Specialized Hospital has a feeding team at there Fanwood Plaza facility. The feeding team consists of a physician, dietician, psychologist, speech and occupational therapist. They can fully evaluate your daughter to determine why he is not eating and if feeding therapy/intervention is appropriate. Please email me directly if you have any more questions. good luck! I am glad that you are not listening to your pediatrician and trusting your instincts. It is not okay that she will not eat and there is probably an underlying reason why she refuses to eat.